Does this FF #52 Look Colour Touched? (Photos Added) 1 1

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

I've got an opportunity to purchase a reply nice looking FF #52, but I have reason to believe it may have been worked on. Why? Because most of the other FF issues in the same run have obvious colour touch along the spine near the staples. The FF #52 is a much nicer looking book than the other issues, and does not display the colour touching near the staples, but it does have a spot that can be clearly seen from the inside of the FC. I could not, however, locate any obvious colour touch from the front (bottom right of the Torch's chin).

I'm not sure if this is bleed through from colour touch. I'm leaning towards it being from production because I had a SA X-Men issue graded by CGC that had a similar dot on the exterior of the BC. It was a bus label 9.0 or 9.2.

What do you folks think? The book looks like it could be 9.0, and buying it for the seller's asking price would be a 'steal' if it's unrestored, but a loss on my end if it comes back in a purple label, so any advice would be great appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. @pickycollector Didn't I sell you an ASM #55 with a similar dot back in the day? If so, did it turn out being colour touched or not? 
P.P.S. @crassus This is the dot you missed.

 

Edited November 17, 2018 by KEY ISSUES Comics

[comicquant]

Could you post a pic of the front where the CT would be?  Different angles would be good.  Do you have a black light?  Some black inks do fluoresce if they aren't high quality. 

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

8 hours ago, comicquant said:

Could you post a pic of the front where the CT would be?  Different angles would be good.  Do you have a black light?  Some black inks do fluoresce if they aren't high quality. 

Hi,

I'll try to get some more photos Saturday morning. As for backlights, I've had no success finding a portable one for sale locally. I'd like to inspect them in person before pulling the trigger on one. There are plenty available online, but I don't know anything about them...

Thanks!

[TC33]

That is an obvious bleed through ct sign if ever I have seen one.  Appears to be black as well which is the primary color that makes up the majority of the front cover, so I would bet money that has been touched up.

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

4 hours ago, TC33 said:

That is an obvious bleed through ct sign if ever I have seen one.  Appears to be black as well which is the primary color that makes up the majority of the front cover, so I would bet money that has been touched up.

Exactly, that's what my instinct tells me, but I cannot, for the love of Stan, see anything out of the ordinary when looking at that spot on the FC.  Will take some photos of the FC tomorrow and post them.

But, as I said in my first post, I've had a blue label SA X-Men book with a very similar stain on the outside of the BC, which makes me reconsider whether or not this is CT...

[DR.X]

21 hours ago, comicquant said:

Could you post a pic of the front where the CT would be?  Different angles would be good.  Do you have a black light?  Some black inks do fluoresce if they aren't high quality. 

this and maybe an angled shot of the spot in suspect.

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

Here are some photos. Starting with the one where I've circled the area where the apparent bleed through is on the inside of the FC.

(FYI there seems to be some dirt on my lense that it is causing a small blemish in all the photos.)

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

Here are some other photos:

 

 

[Mystafo]

This might be a silly question, but is there anything on the corresponding section of the 1st page that may have come off on the inner cover (like an ink dot or something)? 

[The Lions Den]

Weird.  

[Bomber-Bob]

6 minutes ago, Mystafo said:

This might be a silly question, but is there anything on the corresponding section of the 1st page that may have come off on the inner cover (like an ink dot or something)? 

I understand what you are getting at but I think that dot was applied 'wet'. You can see the ink spreading out from the dot.

[Mystafo]

Yeah, I noticed the "halo" around the dot...its almost looks like a dot that got wet after it was made.  I guess I'm used to seeing the bleedthrough stop at the edges of where the color break stops.  I can't seem to make out a spot that would be ct on the front, especially since they seem to have resisted the temptation to hit those tiny little perforation dots in the sold black area! 

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

1 hour ago, Mystafo said:

Yeah, I noticed the "halo" around the dot...its almost looks like a dot that got wet after it was made.  I guess I'm used to seeing the bleedthrough stop at the edges of where the color break stops.  I can't seem to make out a spot that would be ct on the front, especially since they seem to have resisted the temptation to hit those tiny little perforation dots in the sold black area! 

The "perforation dots" don't break color and aren't even visible when the book is in hand, unless you really zoom in. 

You are talking about those ridges that run along the width of the book, correct?

[Mystafo]

12 minutes ago, KEY ISSUES Comics said:

The "perforation dots" don't break color and aren't even visible when the book is in hand, unless you really zoom in. 

You are talking about those ridges that run along the width of the book, correct?

Yes, ok that is what I was talking about

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

Thanks for the feedback thus far. Still on the fence about it. Hmmm...

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

So, what's the consensus from the photos? CT or ink drop from the printing process???

Thanks in advance.

[Chaos_in_Canada]

4 hours ago, KEY ISSUES Comics said:

So, what's the consensus from the photos? CT or ink drop from the printing process???

Thanks in advance.

Beautiful book.

Sadly, my vote is colour touch.

[KEY ISSUES Comics]

On 11/26/2018 at 4:27 PM, Chaos_in_Canada said:

Beautiful book.

Sadly, my vote is colour touch.

I am on the fence... It doesn't look like it from the FC, and I, as well as others, have had books with these types of dots that are not CT, so....

Edited January 11, 2019 by KEY ISSUES Comics

[Karl Liebl]

If the book is ONLY a 9.0 why would anyone bother trying to fix a tiny pin like that?  I can't see any damage to the paper or color mismatch as well.  Maybe you should try putting it under some black light to see if you find anything sneaky...  BTW nice book!

On closer examination it looks like the paper may have a tiny perforation in it where that white line is zippering across.  The actual bleed through may be from the printing press and is indeed on Torch's cheekbone or shoulder.  Try putting a flashlight behind the page.  I have no idea if this kind of paper/printing defect would affect the grade...

Edited November 30, 2018 by Karl Liebl

[Bomber-Bob]

31 minutes ago, Karl Liebl said:

If the book is ONLY a 9.0 why would anyone bother trying to fix a tiny pin like that?  I can't see any damage to the paper or color mismatch as well.  Maybe you should try putting it under some black light to see if you find anything sneaky...  BTW nice book!

I have a book that had a similar dot , maybe even smaller, that bled through. It's a judgement call by CGC for intent. I got a Purple label. I then resubbed for Signature Service to at least get the Yellow/Purple label. It's ironic that it's okay to sign a book for SS but the one tiny dot is punished.